61
Accessories / Cf To Ide Adapter
« on: December 13, 2004, 06:00:22 am »
That's exactly what I do have... CF -> PCMCIA, PCMCIA -> IDE, but it is bulky. It even works with an old Toshiba 2.5" HD.
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62
Accessories / Cf To Ide Adapter
« on: December 10, 2004, 07:32:59 am »
Hi,
of course, there are loads of adapters for connecting CF cards to IDE interfaces, but nothing to connext IDE drives to CF slots.
We've got CF-> PCMCIA adapters, and PCMCIA->IDE adapters... now that this product exists, wouldn't it be great to be able to plus it into the Z with a minimum of extra adapters?
Arnie
of course, there are loads of adapters for connecting CF cards to IDE interfaces, but nothing to connext IDE drives to CF slots.
We've got CF-> PCMCIA adapters, and PCMCIA->IDE adapters... now that this product exists, wouldn't it be great to be able to plus it into the Z with a minimum of extra adapters?
Arnie
63
5x00 Hardware / Can this battery be made to work with the 5500?
« on: December 07, 2004, 06:01:41 am »
The most efficient solution is to use a switching convertor. Maxim do ones that will take any voltage from 1.2 to whatever (can't quite remember), and output a steady 5v regardless. I think the current is upwards of 4 amps.
Downside is that these are surface mounted regulators and need a PCB with other components to work. Upside is no heatsink required, can run off any reasonable voltage and are about 85% efficient.
I have samples at home, but need the time to test them out. Rapid Electronics in the UK sell suitable PCBs.
Downside is that these are surface mounted regulators and need a PCB with other components to work. Upside is no heatsink required, can run off any reasonable voltage and are about 85% efficient.
I have samples at home, but need the time to test them out. Rapid Electronics in the UK sell suitable PCBs.
64
General Discussion / Emulating I386
« on: December 07, 2004, 05:33:09 am »
As for decoding DIVX, without floating point in hardware, it has to be either emulated (v slow) or the decoding routing rewritten for integer operation, if possible. Processors with MMX-type instructions (PXA263?) can be much faster for the same clock speed.
Perhaps the difference between OS's is down to how well the maths routines are written.
Perhaps the difference between OS's is down to how well the maths routines are written.
65
General Discussion / Emulating I386
« on: December 07, 2004, 05:30:32 am »
Hi,
AFAIK, emulating an i386-class processor is a nasty business, and in any event the PXA series lack floating point units (remember the days of maths co-processors?). The architectures are completely different (CISC vs. RISC) so it's not just the instruction set that needs emulating, it is also the hardware that makes a PC... a PC.
Guessing, I would imagine a 400MHz PXA could emulate a 486SX33. With JIT compilation, that might get faster, but there is still an OS to get in the way.
And we know what it's like running Windoze on a 486SX
Arnie
AFAIK, emulating an i386-class processor is a nasty business, and in any event the PXA series lack floating point units (remember the days of maths co-processors?). The architectures are completely different (CISC vs. RISC) so it's not just the instruction set that needs emulating, it is also the hardware that makes a PC... a PC.
Guessing, I would imagine a 400MHz PXA could emulate a 486SX33. With JIT compilation, that might get faster, but there is still an OS to get in the way.
And we know what it's like running Windoze on a 486SX
Arnie
66
Angstrom & OpenZaurus / I'm deleting OZ 3.5.1
« on: October 22, 2004, 07:50:28 am »
Amrein,
Your comments are food for thought, but it does appear that you contradict yourself...
On the one hand you say you hate authority, on the other you complain about the mess that these developments are in (so are you removing yourself from Zaurus development?).
Design by committee rarely works, it usually takes a strong character to get things moving and focussed, and people who are willing to do what is necessary, not just the bits they enjoy. After all, where would the wider Linux community be with out Linus Torvalds?
I think it's fantastic how people have pulled together to write this amazing software, but I can also see that without some guidance from a "chief software architect" (no, I am *NOT* referring to BillG ), poor quality coding (as you mentioned) is inevitably going to get into the system and testing is never going be thorough as we all hate testing
A.
Your comments are food for thought, but it does appear that you contradict yourself...
On the one hand you say you hate authority, on the other you complain about the mess that these developments are in (so are you removing yourself from Zaurus development?).
Design by committee rarely works, it usually takes a strong character to get things moving and focussed, and people who are willing to do what is necessary, not just the bits they enjoy. After all, where would the wider Linux community be with out Linus Torvalds?
I think it's fantastic how people have pulled together to write this amazing software, but I can also see that without some guidance from a "chief software architect" (no, I am *NOT* referring to BillG ), poor quality coding (as you mentioned) is inevitably going to get into the system and testing is never going be thorough as we all hate testing
A.
67
Deals and Great Z Buys / 2 British sources for cheap SD cards..
« on: October 11, 2004, 06:12:22 pm »
Slightly cheaper 1Gb SD card at eBuyer.
68
Accessories / Has anyone tried a c4k40 drive?
« on: October 08, 2004, 10:03:11 am »
This appears to be a small form factor IDE drive with a 2.5in IDE connector on it. I know there's not much chance, but has anyone used one of these together with a PCMCIA->IDE adapter in their Z?
Thought not.
But it does seem a very good option compared to a 5Gb Toshiba PCMCIA drive.
Thought not.
But it does seem a very good option compared to a 5Gb Toshiba PCMCIA drive.
69
Deals and Great Z Buys / Pocket Printer just $7.99, worksa with IR
« on: September 20, 2004, 06:14:01 am »70
Angstrom & OpenZaurus / anybody get DVDs to play on a 5500?
« on: August 16, 2004, 06:51:35 am »Quote
mp3 files take about a megabyte per minute. What is it for vidio??Depends entirely on the bitrate you use... I've had reasonable results with 400kbps as the Z's screen is pretty washed out anyway. Adding 56kbps Ogg format sound brings it to about 3meg/minute.
71
Angstrom & OpenZaurus / anybody get DVDs to play on a 5500?
« on: August 10, 2004, 05:11:49 am »
Have you got the ogg libraries installed on your Z? I think it's called tremor, or something like that...
Sorry I'm a bit vague, don't have my Z with me to confirm...
Sorry I'm a bit vague, don't have my Z with me to confirm...
72
Software / KPhone/Pi available
« on: August 06, 2004, 09:48:05 am »
Hi,
Just installed kphone on my SL5500, OZ3.2 PDA. The headphone seems to come alive when I place a call (click followed by quiet pink noise from headphone), but there appears to be no communication (according to inetflash), and the call drops after a few seconds.
Could this be an effect of the kernel being the standard 3.2 release?
Just installed kphone on my SL5500, OZ3.2 PDA. The headphone seems to come alive when I place a call (click followed by quiet pink noise from headphone), but there appears to be no communication (according to inetflash), and the call drops after a few seconds.
Could this be an effect of the kernel being the standard 3.2 release?
73
Angstrom & OpenZaurus / anybody get DVDs to play on a 5500?
« on: August 05, 2004, 07:15:49 am »
Had good results converting videos to play under SL-5500 using the following options:
scale to 320x240 or 320x180 for widescreen
16.6fps (25/3*2) for PAL, 15fps for NTSC (Z screen is slow enough updating that this looks smooth)
Audio in ogg format, stereo, 56kbps.
video divx 5.1.1, 400kbps, psychovisual enhancements on etc.
Have you tried mplayer -hardframedrop -quiet, after exiting Opie?
scale to 320x240 or 320x180 for widescreen
16.6fps (25/3*2) for PAL, 15fps for NTSC (Z screen is slow enough updating that this looks smooth)
Audio in ogg format, stereo, 56kbps.
video divx 5.1.1, 400kbps, psychovisual enhancements on etc.
Have you tried mplayer -hardframedrop -quiet, after exiting Opie?
74
General Discussion / What to Do With 2.5in Hard Drives?
« on: July 30, 2004, 05:27:55 am »
Thanks for the link - this looks ideal. Now, about shipping one item to the UK...
Arnie
Arnie
75
General Discussion / What to Do With 2.5in Hard Drives?
« on: July 29, 2004, 07:15:05 am »
That's a nice idea, but the PCMCIA adapter already has a 2.5in IDC connector, so I'd have to go 2.5in -> 3.5in adapter (as in your link), 3.5in -> 3.5in coupler, 3.5in -> 2.5in adapter, which would be a lot of cable, not to mention having to find/build a coupler.